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Justiceline: January 31, 2013

Welcome to Justiceline, ThinkProgress Justice’s morning round-up of the latest legal news and developments. Remember to follow us on Twitter at @TPJustice

A federal court has given California an extra six months to relieve its prison overcrowding, but did not respond to Gov. Jerry Brown’s request to end court supervision. Brown had announced last month that “the prison emergency is over,” saying it was no longer necessary to meet population reduction goals ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court due to relieve conditions deemed unconstitutionally “cruel and unusual.”

Fifty highly regarded constitutional law scholars, including former Reagan Solicitor General Charles Fried, have signed onto a letter refuting “unfounded claims that the Second Amendment precludes Congress from enacting legislation to reduce gun violence in the United States.”

A military judge ordered the release of a transcript of parts of the trial of alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed that were censored this week. A security officer sitting in on the trial said the source of the mysterious sound and video feed shutdown Monday was an “original classification authority,” apparently referring to the CIA.

A Michigan appeals court said it is not a crime for the state’s authorized medical marijuana users to share their supply with one another at no cost.

The latest attempt has failed to repeal a South Dakota law that allows individuals to sue a third party for breaking up their marriage, with conservatives arguing that it has enabled spouses to keep their marriage together by using threats of a lawsuit to end affairs.